The New England Patriots' offense sputtered yet again in Week 13, and this time, it cost them, as they fell to the Houston Texans by a score of 28-22 on Sunday.
The final score does not indicate how lopsided the game was, as the Patriots trailed 28-9 at one point.
It was the latest ugly performance for New England, and even though the Pats are 10-2 and seem to be well on their way to nailing down yet another first-round bye in the AFC playoffs, their shoddy offense is becoming more and more of a concern.
Going into the season, the Patriots' offense looked unstoppable. Antonio Brown? Josh Gordon? Julian Edelman? Who could thwart that aerial attack?
Of course, New England ended up releasing Brown after just one game, and Gordon was eventually waived after a disappointing first half.
That leaves the Pats with Edelman and, well, not a whole lot else.
Yes, the Patriots acquired Mohamed Sanu at the deadline, but outside of his 10-catch performance in a loss to the Baltimore Ravens back on Nov. 3, he has been pretty quiet.
N'Keal Harry? He is just a rookie and has missed most of the season due to an ankle injury. In three games, he has logged four catches, and he did not catch one ball against the Texans.
There is Phillip Dorsett, but he is really just a decent No. 3 option, and over the past several weeks, he has been a relative non-factor.
To make matters worse, running back Sony Michel is having a dreadful season and is averaging just 3.5 yards per carry after a strong rookie campaign in which he punched in six touchdowns during the playoffs.
The thing with the Patriots is that we can't really judge them until January when the stakes are at their highest. It's entirely possible that they are coasting much like they did last year during the second half, and it feels weird expressing so much concern over a team that is 10-2.
That being said, it's hard to ignore the offensive woes that have plagued New England, and Tom Brady has expressed his displeasure with the offense numerous times over the past few weeks.
We know the Pats have a terrific defense, but at some point, they need to start scoring points, and that is not something they have done recently. Not even in their wins.
They scored 13 points in a four-point win over the Dallas Cowboys last weekend. They put up 17 in a seven-point victory over the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 11.
I still think malaise could be an issue, as they did post 30 or more points in six of their first seven games, but it's also worth noting that much of that came against shaky competition.
New England's offensive struggles have been enough to bump it out of the No. 1 seed in the AFC, and while the Patriots did not need home-field advantage to make it to the Super Bowl last year, it's still a nice luxury.
We don't really know for sure what we have learned about the Patriots following their loss to the Texans, but their problems have been enough to warrant a rather strong reaction from Brady over the last several games, and that alone makes this worth monitoring.
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